Why do people become susceptible to stroke? Stress, age, alcoholism, fatty foods, sweets, and smoking are the main reasons causing people with brain attacks. Sometimes, a simple headache might be triggered and become severe due to many influential factors.
Natalia Rost, Associate Director of the Acute Stroke Service at Massachusetts General Hospital and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, she remarked that:
“Knowledge of the risks that can sabotage the health and predispose the individual to a higher risk of stroke, is important as it will help the person take steps to alleviate the impact of that risk.”
Keep an eye on the preventions as a stairway to remedy any future signs and symptoms. Stay stroke-free and learn how to adapt these ten tips to sustain a healthy living.
- Have Regular Exercise at least 30 minutes per day
Exercise around 30 minutes per day and perform activities that involve running, jogging, walking, or jumping. This way will help the body release toxins and waste material through sweat, says Inc.com. It helps the individual to maintain a physically fit and healthy body. This is also an effective way to gradually lose weight, especially for people who were exposed to stroke symptoms. Start building up a healthy lifestyle and combining your diet with routine exercise as early as today.
- Maintain an 8-hour Sleep
Sleep is a necessity because it relaxes, comforts, and rests the entire body. There were instances wherein the body’s processes and functions properly occurred during the sleeping hours. It keeps the individual feel at ease and recovers the body from its original state. This healthy living tip is crucial for people suffering from stroke because sleeping can regulate the activities in the brain and keep the body stress-free.
- Pay Attention to Your Migraine
Migraine is a painful headache feeling. Some factors that may cause migraine were stress and sleeping during late nights. The nerve cells will become imbalanced and stressed, causing the individual to experience a migraine. To treat the migraine, you should follow tip #2 and get ample sleep to prevent migraine naturally. You can also drink milk to induce you to sleep early. You can also eat some slices of cucumbers to reduce the stress feeling.
- Lower Your Blood Pressure
As per statistics, high blood pressure is the number one leading cause of brain attack. That’s why many medical professionals are encouraging people to lower their blood pressure or at least maintain the normal blood pressure. Aim for a blood pressure around 120/80 for monitoring purposes. Accompany the exercise with healthy diet routines to successfully lower the blood pressure at a moderate range.
- Consider Losing Weight
Losing weight is ideal for helping the individual maintain a physically fit body and stroke-free. Losing weight is also equivalent to reducing the fats, carbs, junk foods, and sweets in the daily meal. In addition, doing tip #1 will help you lose weight faster and safer.
Choose a healthy diet appropriate to your body conditions and consult the doctors or dietitians on what food suits you. Losing weight is a discipline to do it right and properly. As much as possible, don’t be tempted and learn how to control your appetite. You may also do some fasting between the hours to help the body digest the food, convert it into energy, and then burn it through routine exercise.
- Drink Moderately with Water
Give yourself a glass of water every at least 1 to 2 hours to maintain the standard eight glasses. Drinking water is best accompanied by exercise and an extreme diet. It is also helpful for people who choose to do fasting because water can neutralize the acidity levels of the individual and prolong the fasting period. Moreover, water can help the individual perspire more and constantly every workout. This is one of the natural solutions to fight stroke-related diseases.
- Quit Alcohol and Smoking
Both alcoholism and smoking have a tremendous effect on health. These habits can increase the risks significantly for people suffering from brain attacks. The alcohol and smoke can make your blood thick, leading to clot formation. Moreover, it can trigger plaque build-up around the artery walls.
It’s advisable to stop these harmful habits and learn to control yourself from drinking alcohol and smoking. Although it is difficult to quit in just a snap, it is recommended to reduce drinking alcohol and smoking eventually. For instance, try to just drink at least 1 to 2 shot glasses for every spree or try just to take at least 1 to 2 sticks per week.
- Be Alert and be F.A.S.T.
According to the National Stroke Association, they have invented an abbreviation to help people increase their awareness and to easily remember the actions to do for a person with signs of stroke. In this way, people will learn how to respond immediately once they experience the symptoms; these general signs will help you do some health trials for your disease, suggests xpertdox.com.
a.) Face – Is one side of your face feeling paralyzed or drooped when you smile?
b.) Arms – When you lift both arms, is the other arm drifting back down?
c.) Speech – Does your speech sound strange or slurred when speaking?
d.) Time – Call the emergency hotline 911 to immediately assist you if these signs were already occurring to you.
From the word itself, the individual should be aware and alert to these basic signs of brain attack so that the health issue will be addressed accordingly, immediately, and properly. For the other signs of stroke, here are the following things to consider:
a.) Feeling of paralyzing on the other side of the body
b.) Feeling numb on the face
c.) Unexpected severe headache
d.) experiences a loss of vision
e.) unsteady and imbalance movement
- Avoid Fast Food Meals
Fast food meals are known for their high cholesterol, high calories, and fats. However, the delicious tastes of the meal make one forget the harmful effects that it can bring to the health. Although it is not bad to eat at fast foods and some restaurants, eating on a daily or weekly basis is something that you should be alarmed about.
Motivate yourself and become disciplined to stick with the diet routine. It is essential for those diagnosed with the signs and symptoms of stroke to prevent fast food meals because it may affect their cholesterol, sugar, and fatty levels.
- Treat Diabetes and Atrial Fibrillation
High sugar levels may also damage the blood vessels as well as make the blood thick. Eventually, this condition will arise to clot formation until it affects the brain and nerve cells as early as now; learn how to lessen the sugar intake and control yourself from overeating.
On the other hand, atrial fibrillation has something to do with irregular heartbeats. It is recommended to treat this condition first before it reaches the brain. Like diabetes, atrial fibrillation can trigger clot formation, too, so as early as now, if you’re experiencing any signs or symptoms of this condition, seek an immediate doctor’s treatment.